Adding another battery

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
Got the panel and Victron installed despite the cold.
Ran the wire through the coaming with a cable clam to the battery compartment where I put the controller. I was concerned that I was seeing nothing but voltage from the panel until I found that the reading in the app is amperage being sent to the battery by the charger, not the true output of the panel. If it's in float mode it will usually be zero.
Hopefully warm enough to tackle the inside wiring soon.

The 30watt panel tucks nicely in the pushpit for trailer travel.
panel.jpg
 

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
Sunshine! getting 27-29 watts out of the cheapo amazon 30W panel (Newpowa) I think I'll order a second one for the other side.

Screenshot (Mar 1, 2020 1_09_19 PM).png
 
Sep 22, 2018
1,869
Hunter 216 Kingston
Interesting thread!

Informative site on battery tech I came across recently.

 

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
  • Like
Likes: Hardhead

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
So I think for small boat solar my project is complete until things start failing. We are having a sunny warmer weekend here so I decided to run my (music) radio, VHF, and anchor light all night in the driveway to just see where that would get me, I woke up to just over 12 volts still on the battery.
Added the second panel today and I am getting about 50 watts right now out of two 30W panels so I should be making more energy than I am using during the day and have plenty in the battery to go over night. It might struggle a little more when charging phone and ipad but there are plenty of alternatives there.

Now, on to the house side of the wiring
 

greg_m

.
May 23, 2017
692
Catalina Jaguar 22 Simons Town
Wow, that's still a TON of power consumption! Enough to just about drain TWO of those 81Ah batteries in 30 hours.

The rough-draft energy budget I drew up for our Albin Vega 27 only came to 82Ah/day, and that includes running a fridge and a watermaker!
Hi Gene ( @Gene Neill )

Care to share the actual "spreadsheet" document that you used to get to your Ah calculation budget?

I'm in the same predicament where I purchased a boat, the Theta 26 as mentioned in my thread, that had two batteries and the one was wonky to say the least. I'm also in the process of replacing ALL wiring and switch panels. So literally started from scratch but have no clue as to the possibilities in terms of consumers!

Others keen to share also welcome...
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
Haha, "spreadsheet" ... good use of quotation marks. ;) Here is a scan of my cave drawings. I was actually wrong about the 82Ah; that's the projected solar output. My consumption guesstimate is only about 71Ah/day, depending on which watermaker I decide on. (The Ventura 150 makes more water with fewer Ah than the PS40E, but costs a lot more.) And folks have told me that my estimate for the fridge (ENGEL PLATINUM MT35F-U1) may be low, despite the manufacturer's claims.

IMG_20200311_0001.jpg
IMG_20200311_0001.jpg
 
  • Like
Likes: greg_m

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
Pulling apart the electrical add-on wiring it turns out that a previous owner used a couple large wire nuts in place of bus bars. I ordered one of these doodads to organize things to mount behind the existing switch panel.

Is epoxying a wooden mounting platform to the rough fiberglass a good solution or will that likely fail?
I would rather not run a screw or drill bit through to the finished side and I have a piece of scrap teak I can use.

The ugly truth
IMG_20200329_121904.jpg
 

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
I am still waiting for my last bus bar but here is the final setup put to ink (sorta).
 

Attachments

  • Like
Likes: AaronD

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
I made this to help me better conceptualize my power usage with a little less vague speculation. Maybe it will help you if you can copy it. It's probably only good for us small boats.
 

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
To follow up on the Stereo amperage. I was finally able to borrow a Fluke 376 FC from work and it showed the draw barely reaching 1 amp when turning up the radio quite loud (60-70%) with 4 speakers.
 
Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Haha, "spreadsheet" ... good use of quotation marks. ;) Here is a scan of my cave drawings. I was actually wrong about the 82Ah; that's the projected solar output. My consumption guesstimate is only about 71Ah/day, depending on which watermaker I decide on. (The Ventura 150 makes more water with fewer Ah than the PS40E, but costs a lot more.) And folks have told me that my estimate for the fridge (ENGEL PLATINUM MT35F-U1) may be low, despite the manufacturer's claims.

View attachment 175877View attachment 175877
I’d love to see a refrigerator which uses only 2a/h for only 18 hours. Typically, I think it may be more like 5amps cycling 50% over 24 hrs/d = 60 amps/d. Please assign patent rights to me for yours.
 

Johnb

.
Jan 22, 2008
1,419
Hunter 37-cutter Richmond CA
I’d love to see a refrigerator which uses only 2a/h for only 18 hours. Typically, I think it may be more like 5amps cycling 50% over 24 hrs/d = 60 amps/d. Please assign patent rights to me for yours.
Don, you have misinterpreted his spreadsheet. He stated that the current is 2 amps, and therefore after 18 hours it would have used 36 ampere-hrs (not a/hr which is amps per hour and means something else entirely).
That aside, your prediction of 60 ampere hours per day matches to my experience for a 3 cubic foot fridge, albeit in San Francisco Bay where it is currently 68 degrees.
 
Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Don, you have misinterpreted his spreadsheet. He stated that the current is 2 amps, and therefore after 18 hours it would have used 36 ampere-hrs (not a/hr which is amps per hour and means something else entirely).
That aside, your prediction of 60 ampere hours per day matches to my experience for a 3 cubic foot fridge, albeit in San Francisco Bay where it is currently 68 degrees.
There was nothing to misinterpret there - “I’d love to see a refrigerator which uses 2amps per hour for 18 hours”.
The only reason I highlight the issue is that it accounts for most of the power used so it’s important to highlight.
 

Lazy1

.
Aug 23, 2019
173
Catalina 22 13425 A driveway in Pittsburgh
it is a 22 foot boat that cannot accommodate a very large cooler